Blue
by kromatus
Summary: Misaki Ishimaru is new to Iwatobi, and already stuck in the Swimming Club boys' shenanigans. She's overwhelmed by their energy, and unsure about her feelings. Will these boys drive her insane, or whisk her off her feet? This fic will eventually deal with some mature topics, and will be multi-chapter.
1. The Big Day

The morning sun broke through my window, streams of light glittering through, only to be obstructed by my poorly shut curtains. A soft ring was sounding from under my pillow. I reached for it without opening my eyes, and clicked the snooze button on my phone. I pulled the covers over my eyes, and groaned into the warmth. _Not yet,_ I thought, _no, not yet. Too tired._

A few moments later, the ring sounded again. My eyelids fluttered open as I reached for my cell phone again. The alarm flashing on the screen read FIRST DAY OF NEW SCHOOL with a smiley face. Everything seems exciting when you set your alarm for 7am at 3am. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes, and shut off the alarm. _I guess it's time to wake up…_

I sat up, and let my legs hang over the edge of the bed. The wooden floor radiated cold onto my feet, and sent a shiver up my legs and spine once contact was made. The shirt I slept in was warm and hung down to my mid thigh. The closet, and the rest of the room, was white. Moving in was work enough, painting would come later. _Good thing I don't have to worry about what to wear with a uniform._ The closet door creaked and groaned as I pulled it open. The uniform was simple, nothing to distract with. The brown skirt was a good fit, also coming down to almost mid-thigh, covered by the shirt I was sleeping in. I pulled the shirt over my head, pulling my navy-black hair with it, letting the length fall back down to my shoulder blades as the shirt was thrown into the hamper. I pulled my bra down from the hanger, wrapped it around my waist, and hooking it. I pull it around and pull the straps over my shoulder and adjust my breasts so I fit in the cup correctly. I stare into the floor length mirror leaning against the wall next to the closet, and examine my body.

Pinching at my thighs and my hips, I sigh. I had been fit my whole life, but I still felt like it was never enough. I ran track and watched my diet. People constantly complimented me, saying how they wish they were as thin as I was, but I said nothing. Yes, I was thin, but I wasn't happy. In the mirror, I still wasn't happy. Maybe I could join the track team at this new school, and I could maybe find my happiness and be comfortable in my skin.

I shifted my weight back to looking into the closet to pull down the white button down the shirt, slipping my arms through the sleeves. I buttoned the shirt down from the top button to the bottom, and tucked it into my skirt. I pulled black socks out from my drawers which reach up to my knees, and slide my feet into my slip on shoes. I look back into my mirror, and sigh. I reach up and pull my hair into a bun without care. _Last but not least, the brand._ The navy coat was staring back at me from my closet, brandishing the mark of this new school of mine. I pull it down and pull it on, and look back into the mirror once more. "Iwatobi… what the hell kind of name is that?" I whisper at my reflection.

I groan again, grab my bag full of school materials, and exit my room. Moving down the hallway at a medium pace, I can hear the scraping and clammering of sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Ah, shit! No no no no!"

I roll my eyes, and try and sneak down the stairs as quietly as possible. However, the third step from the bottom gave away my secret, and squeeked when I stepped on the soft spot. "Damn…" I whisper under my breath.

"Honey, is that you? Finally up, huh?"

I give up, and finish my descent at whatever volume I please and make my way into the kitchen. I smile at my father, who was desperately trying to cook breakfast.

"Morning," I mutter, sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen in a tall stool, "What are you attempting to cook this morning?"

"Panc-ah!" Oil splashed up from the pan, "Ugh, pancakes."

"Delicious," I smirked.

"Hey, shut up. You need something to eat before going to school," He said as he tried to flip the pancake in the air. It landed half in the pan, half hanging out, threatening to fall on the burner.

"Right, well. I think I'll be fine with an apple. Not feeling so good, anways," I grab a red apple out of a wicker basket sitting on the island in front of me.

"Nervous?" My father cooed.

"You could say that…"

He paused, and looked back at me, concern in his eyes, "Hey, you okay?"

I smiled meekly at him, "Yeah, dad, I'm fine. I'm nervous. I wish mom was here…"

He chuckled, "You say that like she's dead, honey. You know she just went on a business trip to Beijing, she'll be back in two weeks."

I rolled my eyes once more, "Yeah, yeah. But she would have made me coffee to go."

"You and your mother and your caffeine. I'm not feeding your addiction," He pointed the spatula at me over his shoulder as he turned back to the now burning pancakes, "Shi-!"

"Okay, well I'm leaving… now," I took a bite from the apple and slung my bag over my shoulder.

"Bye, honey. Don't get lost, I don't have time to look for you!" He called out.

I roll my eyes once more. _I swear they'll get stuck up there if I keep doing that._ I stick the apple in my mouth long enough to open the door, step outside, and close it behind me. I bite, tearing a piece of apple flesh away, and grabbed the apple. Some of the juice dropped to the ground. The sun was already warm, the rays warming my skin. But only second later the wind danced against my bare legs and I was chilled. _Spring, my ass._ Looking up and down the street, I take another bite of the apple, slurping up some of the juice, and begin to head in the direction of the school.

Some of the trees along the path had begun to blossom, but most were still pretty bare, the black limbs reaching for the sky. Every step I took, the back of my shoes would slide off my heel and slap onto the pavement of the sidewalk, adding more sound with every step. I quickly became embarrassed even though there was no one in sight that could hear it. I tried to walk slower to see if I could prevent it. It quieted it some, but the effect was still there. _I need to buy better shoes after school._

Another and another bite, and the apple was finished. I looked around for a trashcan. I walked slower, to see if I could find one down a side street. After another block, I found one on the corner. I sped up to throw away the already rotting core.

"Haru, wake up!"

Someone was yelling in the open window near the trash can. I stopped, immediately caught off guard by the sudden yelling. I looked up towards the window and saw it was too tall to see me unless the people inside looked down towards the street. But I could see nobody near the window, just heard more sounds.

"Haru… wake… it's time… late!" Every other word, or so it seemed, was too quiet to be heard.

I started to walk closer to the window, before I realized how weird that was. That was when I heard a second voice.

"Haru-chaaaaaan! Wake uuuuup!" The voice seemed much younger than the other, and somewhat whiney. But probably because they were whining at whoever this was they were trying to wake up.

I soon realized I had somehow made it right under the window. _Come on, stop being nosey. Go to school._ I walked away, back towards the corner just to turn it and continue walking down the sidewalk. Again, my shoes would constantly slip off and back on, clacking on the pavement, so I slowed my pace. _Stupid shoes…_

Immediately, someone was in front of me, as if they had tripped down the stairs. They snapped right back into a standing position before falling to the ground.

"Mako-chan, don't push!" He called out to the side street. He pouted and stamped his foot on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Nagisa! I didn't mean to!" A taller boy rushed over, checking over the smaller, blonde boy, "Are you okay?"

The blonde boy, who I now assumed was named Nagi-something, crossed his arms and huffed, "Yeah, I'm fine."  
The other boy sighed, "That's good. Now come on, we need to get to school."

They began to walk in my same direction, somehow still not noticing me. I had just noticed I was holding my breath, and let it out quietly.

Both of them looked over at me, and they're eyes grew large.

The blonde boy ran up to me, "I'm so sorry! Did I almost hit you?" His eyes looked like they were beginning to well up with tears.

I stammered and shook my head from side to side, "N-no, I'm fine, you didn't hit me."

"Ah, good. Okay!" He smiled while the other boy approached.

"I'm sorry about Nagisa. I'm Makoto, are you new to Iwatobi?" He held out his hand.

I reached out, before pulling it back quickly, "How do you know I'm going to Iwatobi?"

He smiled, "The emblem on your jacket…?"

My face grew hot with embarrassment, "Oh, right," I extended my arm again, and he took my hand in his, and we shook, "I'm—"

"Nagisa, Makoto, let's go," Another boy stepped down from the stairs and looked right over at me. His cyan eyes were cold and sharp. I was immediately silenced as he gasped, "Oh, sorry… I didn't know you were there…"

"Ah, Haru," Makoto turned to smile at him, "Come meet, um, I'm sorry, I missed your name. What was it, again?"

My lips moved with no sound as I tried to collect my thoughts.

"Misaki, my name is Misaki Ishimaru."


	2. Bows

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Misaki… Misa-chan!" Nagisa shouted reaching for my hands. He pulled them up in front of his face, "Misa-chan, it's nice to officially meet you! Welcome to Iwatobi!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"My burning face soon grew cold as I resisted the urge to pull my hands back. My stomach turned over, and my eyes burned hot instead, "Thank you, N-Nagisa. I don't want to be rude, but I would prefer if you would please let me go…"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aw, Misa-chaaan… I'm sorry," He pouted and released my hands./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Misaki, where are you from? Why are—" Makoto began./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're going to be late…" The other boy said, turning away, walking down the sidewalk./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah! You're right! Misaki, would you like to walk with us?" Makoto smiled at me, extending his arm yet again. I knew it wasn't necessarily for mine, but as an invitation./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I just nodded, mainly because I still wasn't positive in where I was supposed to be going anyways. They walked in front of me, almost in a line three across. I trailed behind and listened to their idle conversation. More like Nagisa and Makoto having conversation, while the other boy and I silently accompanied them. He didn't participate in their chat, wouldn't even look their way most of the time. He looked straight ahead, his hands in his pockets. He acknowledged me none, and I didn't attempt contact with him./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah! Rei-chan!" Nagisa called out ahead, waving his arm above his head. He soon took off into a full sprint towards someone I couldn't see./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I crossed my arms in front of my stomach, and continued to walk behind them as we approached a taller boy, with navy hair like mine, and red glasses./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good morning, Nagisa. Makoto. Haruka-senpai," He said officially to each of them./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good morning, Rei," Makoto tilted his head and raised his hand to make a small wave./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Morning…" The other boy said, who now I could only assume was Haruka./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, Haruka-senpai, as always, a cheery morning person," Rei said to Haruka. While looking to the other boys, he noticed me behind them, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know who you are…?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I hesitated, staying put. Nagisa took Rei's hand, and bounded over towards me./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Rei-chan! Rei-chan, this is Misa-chan!" Nagisa pointed to me, keeping in mind I preferred not to be touched./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Misa…?" He looked at me, puzzled, "Just Misa?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No," I began, "No, my name is Misaki. Misaki Ishimaru."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, naturally. That makes much more sense," He placed the pads of his fingers onto his forehead, just barely pushing some of his hair out of his face. His eyes, a blue so deep it appeared purple, pierced through me, "Wonderful to meet you, Misaki-san."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I gasp, goosebumps popping up all over my arms./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Rei-chaaaan, don't be so scary to Misa-chan," Nagisa whined, pulling on Rei's arm./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah! So sorry!" His demeanor completely changed in an instant, fawning over me like an injured baby bird, "Did I frighten you, Misaki-san?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""…San?" I questioned him, sure that I was all their juniors./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, I don't see your bow, so I don't know what year you are. Plus, it's only polite to refer to you as such!" Rei declared, raising his index finger, and puffing out his chest./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My…bow?" I was extremely confused as to what they were talking about./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"What bow? Like, a hair bow? /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I looked at their uniforms to see if they were wearing bow ties, and it was then that I noticed that their normal ties were different colors. Makoto and Haruka's ties were a grass green color, speckled with white dots. Rei's and Nagisa's were red, with the same pattern. I looked upon my own uniform, and noticed I had no such tie. Or, now that the dots were connecting, a bow on the front of my uniform./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh…" /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Did I ever receive a bow?/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Well, I'm a second year."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, no way! You're the same year as Rei-chan and I!" Nagisa bounced in front of me, beaming./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're going to be late…" Haruka said again, heading towards the direction of the school, I hoped./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We all followed, and got back into formation, although Rei stayed behind with me, keeping me company and asking question after question, which I would kindly shut down by, "I'm not quite comfortable talking about it, yet. We don't know each other that well, I mean."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, I'm sorry…" He seemed hurt by my reaction./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm sorry, as well," I tried to console him, "And I'll be happy to talk about it later, but we just met and I'm already very anxious about my first day…" I trailed off, holding on to my stomach tighter./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Right, right. It's alright. I guess I'm so used to Nagisa-kun, always so energetic and willing to share everything. You're much more like Haruka-senpai," He chuckled under his breath, and looked towards and down at me. The height difference is not slight at all./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Th-thanks, I think."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I guess so," he chuckled again, "Will you at least tell me what class you're in, if it's not too much? I can show you where it is when we arrive."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His eyes shown more like a purple color in the shade of his hair than in the sun, where it was very much obvious they're deep blue coloration. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I reached into my bag, and pulled out a small note with only two symbols on it, "2-C, I think, if that's what those refer to."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, amazing! We'll be in the same class!" Rei said excitedly, clenching his fist./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Mm," I mused, /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I suppose that's nice. At least there's one person I know and seems willing to help me if I need it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""If you need any help, just let me know," He pointed to himself, touching his index to the tip of his nose./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Please don't tell me you can read minds./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you, Rei…san?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, no. Please, just Rei is fine."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay, Rei."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Welcome to Iwatobi, Misaki."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled at him, a small smile, enough to show appreciation. Our walk the rest of the way was pretty quiet. I kept an eye on the boys, watching them interact. Nagisa was very bouncy and hyperactive, as well as very touchy, grabbing on to the others arms and shoulders. Makoto was very gentle and kind, allowing Nagisa to do as he pleased, and smiling and laughing with him. Rei spoke very politely and officially, talking about correctly using techniques and theories. Haruka kept looking forward with a straight face, not saying anything to anybody. Did he even like these people I assume were his friends?/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I reached for the collar of my shirt, feeling nothing there. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So embarrassing…/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I suppose I would have to grab one at the school faculty office. Sunlight filtered through the few trees that had leaves, and was uninterrupted through the others, making harsh shadows against the sidewalk./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Finally arriving in front of the school gates, and through the front door, the group split into two. Makoto and Haruka followed us up the stairs to second floor, said their temporary goodbyes, and went up to the third floor. I suppose the floors symbolize the years, as the rest of the group stayed on the second floor. Relying on Rei, I looked up to him for verification./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He smiled down at me, "Come on, Misaki, our class is this way."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I followed him and Nagisa down the hall, as it seemed to appear smaller and smaller as we went on. Only traveling about 10 feet, Nagisa stopped. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aw, it's not fair I'm not in the same class as Rei-chan and Misa-chan…" He pouted./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Cheer up, Nagisa," Rei rested his hand upon the top of Nagisa's head, "We'll see you later for lunch, okay?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We?/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay, Rei-chan. See you later!" Nagisa waved, and bounded off towards another set of doors. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I suppose that's where his classroom is…/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Misaki?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Calibri; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I snapped out of my thoughts and looked to my left, towards the voice. Rei was standing there, holding the door open for me./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"span id="docs-internal-guid-d472cd37-c7ab-53f6-5178-93cf725c29b8" span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Smiling, he motioned towards the open doorway, "After you."/span/span/p 


	3. Lunch

The teacher asked me to stand at the front, giving me the opportunity to introduce myself before the rest of the class.

"Hello, um. My name is Misaki Ishimaru. I like to run track, and I like to read. I, um, it's nice to meet you all," I bowed, my bun flipping over a little bit. As I brought my upper body back up, it flipped back a little into place.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Misaki Ishimaru," the class and the teacher chanted in an odd unison.

The teacher, Miss Kaname, walked over and stood next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder, "We have plenty of open seats since our school isn't very big, so please pick where you would like to sit."

She removed her hand, and smiled at me, before returning to the side of the front podium, allowing me to choose my seat. I could feel the stares of my classmates, trying to decipher where I would choose to sit, but I refused to meet anyone's gaze. I scanned the open seats, and found one next to Rei. I made my way with my bag over next to him, and sat down. The students were muttering, I'm sure about my choice to sit near the window next to Rei.

"I'm glad you chose to sit next to me, Misaki," Rei said while pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Mm, very movie-like, right?" I turned to look at him, "The new girl chooses to sit next to the boy she met that morning… so typical I might get sick," I smirked, "But I figure in the small time I've known you, I could handle sitting next to you for the year."

Rei chuckled a little under his breath, "Either way, I'm still glad. It's nice to finally have a friend in my class," He looked directly into my eyes with sincerity.

My face felt hot immediately, and my smirk disappeared. I turned down to look at the top of my desk while the day began.

 _Why am I getting so nervous? It's just a boy._

Miss Kaname began teaching almost immediately as I rushed to get my notebook and pens out of my bag to take notes. Retrieving them, I stole a glance at Rei. He was listening intently, taking, what seemed to be, very detailed notes at lightning speed.

After a few hours, and a few sloppy pages later, the lunch bell rang. Students began putting away their writing utensils and replaced them with eating utensils, and their notebooks with packed lunches.

As this was going on, I noticed in my haste this morning, and my terrible planning the night before, I didn't bring a lunch with me. My stomach growled, as I clutched around my waist.

"Shhh…" I tried to whisper to my stomach, in hopes it would stop feeling empty and quiet down.

"Misaki, are you not eating?"

I lifted my head a little and looked over at Rei, Nagisa entering our classroom behind him.

"I, uh, seem to have forgotten to bring a lunch today. I guess I'll go get one from somewhere…" I went to grab my bag and leave the room, when he reached out.

"Not necessary. Please, take some of mine," He held out his lunch.

Nagisa bound up, "Oh Rei-chan, that looks so delicious!" He cooed.

Nagisa looked over to my desk and saw nothing, "Misa-chan, where's your lunch?"

"I forgot about it at home…" I was embarrassed at that point and was looking down at my empty desk. My eyes felt hot again and my vision blurred as tears began forming at the corners of my eyes.

"Don't worry!" Nagisa called out. There was some scuffling noises, and he was beside me, placing a napkin on my desk, under my face. I blinked away the tears as both Nagisa and Rei scooped some of their lunches onto the napkin.

I looked up at the two boys standing over me while they fussed about how Rei's lunch was better suited because it covered all the important food groups while Nagisa's was too unhealthy.

"Besides, Misaki said she likes to run track, so she needs her nutrients. NOT your fattening foods, Nagisa," Rei scolded the small boy.

"Whatever, Rei-chan, mine tastes better," Nagisa continued to shovel some of the fried foods onto the napkin.

The two argued a little more, and stopped sharing their food. I looked back down to the napkin, seeing fried chicken and fried rice mixed with steamed rice, vegetables, and sautéed meats. Looking back up to the arguing boys, I just smiled, tears forming again. I blinked them away, "Thank you both, Rei and Nagisa."

They stopped their bickering and looked down at me. Nagisa smiled big enough to pull the skin off his chin, "You're super welcome, Misa-chan! Oh, but you don't have any chopsticks! Let me go get you an extra pair I have in my bag!"

As Nagisa ran off, I chuckled into my hand a little.

Looking back towards Rei, I noticed he was staring at me, and turned away, blushing. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, "You're welcome, Misaki. If you like my lunch, I would be happy to show you how I make it so that you may get all the proper foods and nutrients for running."

He wouldn't look at me while he said that. I nodded, and thanked him again. He sat back at his desk, still not looking at me. Nagisa rushed in, holding the chopsticks, still wrapped up and brand new. He handed them to me, and then sat at the desk in front of mine which belonged to another girl who left to another room for her lunch.

Nagisa and I talked about my first half of the day, but Nagisa did most of the talking. Eventually, Nagisa urged Rei to join the conversation. Rei coughed, almost choking on his food, "Excuse me, Nagisa, but you know how I like to eat my food first, then participate in conversation."

"Aw, Rei-chan, come on! We only have a little time left!" Nagisa pouted.

"Nagisa, I'll see you at practice after school, we can talk then, but I need to eat right now."

'Reeeeeiii-"

"Nagisa, stop!" Rei snapped.

Nagisa looked surprised, and taken back. He shrunk in the seat, looking more and more like a scolded child every second.

"Rei-chan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just very hungry."

Nagisa furrowed his brow, "Rei. What's wrong?"

Rei looked surprised then, with the lack of the intimate ending. He looked over at Nagisa first, then towards me, and blushed again, "Nothing," And looked back down at his desk.

Nagisa and I looked at each other, and he leaned in, holding his hand up to show he wanted to whisper something to me.

I leaned in a little, not getting too close, "Did something happen with you and Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, wide-eyed. I shook my head, confused myself.

Nagisa looked back and forth between Rei and I, and then stopped and smiled.

"I know what it is, Rei-chan," He cooed, "You like Misa-chan."

We both froze, me looking forward towards Nagisa and Rei looking down at his desk. My stomach flipped and my face went from burning hot to below freezing cold. I looked out the window to my left to avoid and looks or eye contact.

Rei sighed, "Nagisa, that's ridiculous. We only met this morning, and hardly know each other. Yes, Misaki-san is very pretty. But I can hardly say that I have such romantic feelings for her when I only know her name and her hobbies. We do not live in a fantasy world where love at first sight happens," Nagisa gasped, "So if you would please, return to your class, and I will see you at practice."

I glanced toward Nagisa, and he looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. He smiled, and looked over to Rei, "You're right, Rei-chan. I was just messing with you. See you later!" Nagisa gathered up his items, and left the room.

I heard Rei go back to eating as I slowly turned my head to look at him. His eyes were closed, and he seemed focused on eating. I went back to eating myself, finishing the both lunches. Nagisa's felt greasy in my stomach, but did taste very good. Rei's lunch felt much fresher, but tasted bland.

After I finished, I folded up the napkin, and brought it over to the trash can to throw it away. After it hit the bottom, I stood there for a moment, not knowing how to talk to Rei again, if I even should. I should reaffirm that we are just friends, and we shouldn't let what Nagisa said interfere with us just being that. Friends.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, thinking about how stupid and unnecessary that would be since he just said that himself. _We do not live in a fantasy world._


End file.
